Why One Single Workout Video is Never Enough

(Photo by drewshoots on Flickr>/a>)

I post a lot of different workout videos here on the site. I don’t do this just to keep you coming back, over and over again, to see something brand new. No, I do this for a much more crucial reason.

The key is — all my workout videos are fundamentally about working the same muscles. There are only so many parts of our body we can workout, either at a gym, or at home.

But there is an infinite number of ways we can work those parts out. And I want to give you the most variety possible in how you build strength and lose weight.

Our bodies need that variety, and our brains need it too. So finding one or two videos that you like, and just sticking with those, isn’t the best idea. That’s why using a single DVD or workout book is limiting, and ultimately pretty damn boring.

Our Bodies Need Variety

Our bodies are pretty smart — they know when they’re being strained, when they’re being tested, and when we’re pushing them into uncomfortable territory. Basically, this happens any time we try and work out, really.

So what do our bodies do after a while? They get sly, they get crafty — and they stop showing us those initial results that we might have seen earlier in the game.

This is the famous plateau effect, where suddenly you feel like your workouts aren’t having the same great effect as they once were. It happens for lots of reasons, but I like the tricky-body metaphor the best, as it’s the easiest to visualize and combat.

Changing It Up, Constantly

In order to get past this plateau, we need to challenge our bodies by changing up our workouts. It might be because we’ve developed a specific part of our muscles really nicely, but have been neglecting others nearby, or we’ve simply stopped giving our all to a particular workout because it’s become too routine.

The solution? It’s easy — just keep changing things up. Don’t change your entire workout every single day and never get even a basic level of comfort with what you’re doing, but at the same time, don’t let yourself get too comfortable, either.

Our Brains Need Variety Even More

Never mind just our bodies — our psychology depends on constantly changing stimulation to keep interested, especially when it comes to something repetitive and grinding like exercise.

Look, I’ll be the first to say that lifting weights and doing strength training isn’t inherently exciting — fundamentally, it comes down to repeating a series of hard, laborious tasks over and over again. And our subconscious is the first to tell us that, by putting up mental blocks against working out.

The solution, once again, is ultra-simple: change things up. With new workouts, new approaches, new videos — you’ve got new options. If you had to watch the same workout video I posted months ago, over and over and over again, forever — you’d be sick of me in no time. But because I bring the fresh approach, the new angle, the different set of reps and concentrations, you’re gonna stay on your toes a little while longer.

Habit is Good, but Routine Can Be A Killer

Remember that slogan — get into the habit of working out, and if you’re really able to use my videos, all the more power to you — but make sure your workouts don’t become routine. Once the interest, the spark, the joy goes out of it (man, this sounds like a relationship advice column!) — you need to find a way to re-capture that, and changing up your workouts and your approaches is the best way.

My videos are all about giving you the quickest, easiest path to doing this — as soon as you find yourself inching towards that dreaded routine word, head back over to my site. Read an article or two, and know that I’ll already have a whole set of fresh videos ready for you to tackle.

So don’t wait — change up your routine right now!